


Grief through Music

by punched17times



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27105265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punched17times/pseuds/punched17times
Summary: Kataang oneshot, set 1 year after the war, after a visit to the Southern Air Temple.Does not line up with the ATLA comics.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Grief through Music

**Author's Note:**

> My first work here!  
> Kataang comfort. Mild at most. I'm not good at writing anything very intimate.  
> Also, in canon Aang can play the flute and I sorta made it into one of the most important Air Nomad instruments. (It kinda makes sense, right?)  
> 

It was definitely past midnight.

The full moon shone bright in the night sky.

Katara couldn't sleep. The full moon tugged at her senses, keeping them alert, no matter how much she wants to fall asleep. 

It's part of her element, anyway.

She had been travelling with her brother Sokka and Avatar Aang for about a year since the Hundred Year War ended, and they had just left the Southern Air Temple yesterday. Since then, she had noticed something off about Aang - he was uncharacteristically quiet, he looked more pensive during their flights on Appa, and he was not taking any initiative to communicate with anyone. Not even herself. 

Tonight, they were camping by the sea, surrounded by nothing but trees on one side, a pristine seashore with fine white sand on the other.

She sat up, knowing that there was no way she was going to fall asleep. She looked around her, where Sokka lay, snoring obnoxiously loudly in his sleeping bag, and beside him sat Appa, Aang's animal companion and lifelong friend, making low rumbles as he slept. 

But she didn't see someone - the Avatar in particular. 

She got up and started to walk along the seashore, appreciating the peace and quiet which came after the war, and with the intent of looking for him.

And after a few minutes of walking, she saw him - he stood on the sand barefooted, facing the ocean, hands outstretched. She watched in awe as with the grace of an airbender, he bent two water spouts out of the sea, intertwining them, moving them upwards. He then changed his pose, using his fingers to use the water to form the Water Tribe insignia, before gently lowering the water back into the sea. Katara was amazed at the amount of control he had. Not a single drip or splash was heard as the water re-entered the sea.

She then watched as Aang lowered his arms and his head, and his tattoos started glowing.

Katara knew that Aang had mastered the Avatar state at will already, so she watched as an unbelievable, yet familiar sight, appeared in front of the Air Nomad insignia. It was the Moon Spirit - or at least, the _new_ Moon Spirit. She listened as Aang spoke.

"Evening, Yue. It's great to see you again."

Yue was beautiful - she looked about as good as she did back in the Northern Water Tribe in their previous visit, before the Siege of the North led by Admiral Zhao. She hovered in front of Aang. "Hello, Aang. It's good to see you too."

Aang looked up and smiled - but it was a sad smile, Katara could tell. She was still watching him from a distance.

"How does it feel?" Aang asked.

"What?"

"Seeing your people safe and thriving again."

Yue flashed a sad smile of her own. "I am eternally grateful for your help in bringing about this change. But I'm still sad that my father has to lead the Tribe without me."

Aang looked down.

"I just wish I could say the same for myself."

Yue's image flickered.

"You are not alone, Aang."

"I know. It's just... my people."

Yue smiled. Her form started to fade.

"It is never wrong to grieve. You, of all the people in this world, should know that."

Aang looked up and nodded.

"I'll see you again, Yue. When the full moon rises. I wish you peace." he said with a slight smile.

"You too, Aang. Next time, bring Sokka and his girlfriend. I'm sure we will need to talk." With a final wink, Yue disappeared.

"Hey, Katara." Aang's voice snapped her back to reality.

Katara forgot that she was standing out in the open, so she walked up to Aang, who was sitting down on the sand, drawing that same symbol - the perfect, harmonious mix of the Air Nomad and Water Tribe insignias, with his hand. She blushed slightly, realising what it signified, but she kept silent. 

"Are you okay?" Aang asked her. Again, she was touched by how much he cared. Cared about the world, which relied on his young spirit, and about _her_.

"I should be asking you that question."

Aang winced. "Sorry about yesterday and today. You know..." his voice trailed off.

"I know."

"I'll be back." Aang said, and he quickly airbended himself over to the trees at the edge of the beach, snapping off a rather thin branch off a tree. He scooted back to her side.

He said, rather cheerfully, "Remember how I played the flute?"

She nodded. He continued, "Gyatso was my personal mentor in this as well. He was a prodigy - I managed to catch up eventually, but the flute is one of the Air Nomads' traditional instruments. It made warm, flowing, mellow sounds - kind of like how air and water flow." He squeezed her hand, then began to work on the branch, precisely cutting out several holes and a mouthpiece. "I hope you like this better than the last time."

He started playing - a slow but beautiful, haunting melody which got Katara mesmerised. It was like Aang was expressing his personal journey in the form of a song. She experienced Aang's slow growth with fun at the Air Temple, making many friends and playing many games with them. She experienced his fear, his running away after discovering his identity as the Avatar as Aang changed the melody to a fast, desperate one. She felt the devastation he had when he discovered the loss of his entire people when Aang's flute-playing died down to a very slow and sad tune.

He stopped playing, and Katara looked up to his usually bright gray eyes. She saw so much pain, so much sadness, so much self-directed anger in those gray depths as tears formed in them. Without any word, she wrapped him in a tight hug, clutching him like he could disappear any second. Tears welled up in her own eyes as she knew that Aang's devastation is hers too; what had happened to the waterbenders of the Southern Tribe has affected her like how the loss of his people had overwhelmed him. His arms wrapped around her back, and his nails dug into her skin as he sobbed uncontrollably. She patted his back, encouraging him to let it all out, and taking the time he spent to appreciate the special bond they had with each other, that he would only be able to do this with her. 

Only Yue knows how long they spent in each other's arms, until they broke apart. They stared deeply into each other's eyes, stormy gray against ocean blue. Katara spoke up.

"You do know how strong you are, right?" Aang's eyes looked questioningly at hers. She continued.

"If _that_ had happened to any person, Aang, they would've been destroyed. Almost like I did when it happened to me..." Her voice caught, but she took a deep breath and continued.

"You grieve for them, but you have always moved on. Since I've met you, I can only see you trying to find happiness in the smallest things, to help people who need it..." She paused.

"And it's amazing."

"What?" Aang asked. He looked more curious than sad now.

"That you have not given up on this cruel world. That you have not given up on yourself. And... that you never gave up on me." she finished, her voice soft but firm.

Aang laughed. His laugh was contagious; it was full of joy, of pure happiness, and spirits if that wasn't Katara's favourite sound in the world. "That's because you haven't as well."

"Haven't what?"

"Given up on yourself after what happened to your tribe and your family. Given up hope for peace to return to the world. Given up on me." Aang paused, then continued.

"You didn't give up on me when I shut myself off everyone at the Serpent's Pass. You didn't give up on me when I was shot down in the Crystal Catacombs of old Ba Sing Se. And I guess you didn't let go of the hope that we could one day be like we are now." Aang smiled, took Katara's hand and squeezed it.

They let go of each other's hand and gazed silently into the horizon, feeling the push and pull of Yue on the tides.

Aang was the first to speak again.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here for me."

"Aang, I will always be here for you."

Aang smiled and nodded. "Maybe next time, when we go to the Air Temple, it won't be as painful to look at the remnants of my culture." 

"No, no, it's good to grieve every once in a while, to let out the longing for your people. Maybe one day, a new generation of airbenders will help you continue your work to remember them..." Katara said, then realised what she implied. She blushed and looked away.

Aang laughed, and Katara doesn't know if she could feel more embarrassed. " _Aang!_ "

Aang's arms reached up, took Katara's face in his hands, and turned her towards him, and they gazed at each other for a few seconds, before Aang pulled her in for a passionate kiss. Katara's own hands instinctively wrapped around Aang's waist, pulling him in, deepening their kiss. After what seemed like forever, they broke apart, foreheads still touching as they continued to gaze at each other with half-lidded eyes.

"You know, I think I like the way you think." Aang smirked.

"Oh, shut up." Katara giggled.

"I guess we're not sleeping?"

"Nah, don't think I can."

"Stay with me?"

"Of course."

Aang chuckled, then picked up his flute from the sand beside him.

"The Air Nomads really loved music." With that, he placed his mouth over the mouthpiece and started playing.

Katara leaned on Aang's shoulder as he played, the beautiful sounds filling the empty silence which came with the night along the beach. She knew that Aang will have to slowly let go of his self-directed anger, and focus on his task as the Avatar, as he not only signified the past - a horrible past of loss and devastation, but also the future - a future filled with hope, that one day, the Air Nomad lineage will continue.

That one day, Aang would restore the world to a harmonious balance, the way the four elements are within himself.

And she would be by his side the whole time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I took an awful amount of time editing, but I hope the final result is satisfying enough!  
> Please leave a comment regarding my writing - is it decent or do I need to work on anything?  
> Also, my characterisation - is anything too OOC? Please let me know as well!  
> I'm working on a Spirit World reunion fic as well - I just like the idea and only several fics have taken that route. Maybe I'll post it soon.


End file.
